The Joker (DCAU)
[[The Joker|'The Joker']]' is' the most frequently occurring villain in Batman: The Animated Series. Voiced by Mark Hamill, this incarnation is well-known for his manic, screeching laughter. While he does not die in Batman: TAS, the continuity of the series extends into other WB/DC shows Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Batman Beyond. ''Like his movie and comic counterparts, this animated Joker is a twisted sadist who torments others for his own amusement. His obsession with destroying Batman reaches its peak in the animated straight-to-video feature, ''Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker. Death, Rebirth and Death Again In Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker, the Harlequin of Hate re-appears in the future Gotham City, decades after his apparent death. It is revealed that this Joker is an imposter and that the real one did indeed die, as is shown in a flashback scene. One night, the Joker and his henchgirl Harley Quinn ambush Tim Drake, the then partner of Batman, Robin. Robin is held captive for three weeks in the partially demolished Arkham Asylum and is subjected to invasive and brutal forms of torture. The Joker's scheme is for he and Harley to start a family, and they decide to "adopt" one of Batman's young partners. Poor Tim is transformed into Joker Junior, 'a pint-sized spitting image of his "father". When Batman and Batgirl arrive at Arkham and discover what the Joker's done to Tim, Batman becomes enraged. To add fuel to the fire, the Joker also states that while being tortured, Robin revealed Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne. Batman attacks the Joker and threatens to kill him, but the Joker manages to injure the Dark Knight and then offers the Jokerized Tim the privilege of killing his former mentor. Tim picks up the Joker's trick spear-gun and a BANG! flag pops out, ready to be fired. Tim fires, but he shoots the Joker instead of Batman. The Joker looks at the spear embedded in his chest and with his last breath utters "That's not funny...". he then collapses into a lifeless heap. At the end of ''Return Of The Joker, ''the new Joker reveals himself to be Tim Drake. The old Joker had used cutting-edge genetics technology that he had stolen from Cadmus Labs to imprint his DNA on a microchip, which he then implanted Drake with. When Drake reached his early fifties, the Jokerware in his body activated and would periodically take control of him and transform him into a spitting image of the Joker. Over the course of the film, the new Joker works with the Jokerz street gang and has them steal several pieces of hi-tech machinery, which he later combines to create a device that can hack into satellite defence systems. The Joker plans to take over a Hyperion-class satellite laser and use it to destroy Gotham City, starting with Wayne Manor. His plans are thwarted by Terry McGuiness - the new Batman, mentored by Bruce Wayne himself - and he is defeated when Terry takes one of the Joker's electric joy buzzers and shocks him with it, frying the Jokerware chip and restoring Tim Drake to his normal self. Thus, the Joker is at last destroyed once and for all. ''In an edited version of ''Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker, the original Joker is not shot by Tim Drake but instead pushed into a tank of liquid, which breaks and drenches him. The Joker then slips and his hand falls against an electrical switch, electrocuting him. The Joker dies off-screen in this version.'' List of victims As the DC Animated Universe is primarily children's programming, the Joker does not actually kill that many people on-screen. However, there are a number of incidents that strongly imply toward the death of a character. Batman: The Animated Series * In the episode The Last Laugh, ''the Joker helms a garbage scow and sails it around the Gotham Bay area. The garbage pile has been saturated with Joker Venom and the fumes cause the citizens to collapse into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Batman's computer analyzes the toxin and states that prolonged exposure to the gas can cause permanent insanity, but a scenario such as this would more than likely result in several casualties. * '''G. Carl Francis '- In the episode The Laughing Fish ''- which is based off of a comic story of the same name - the Joker tries to patent a new brand of fish that have been poisoned with a diluted form of Joker Venom, giving the fish Joker grins. Patent clerk Francis states that no one can copyright fish since they're a natural resource. Angered, the Joker threatens to kill Francis at midnight unless he changes his mind. At midnight, the Joker's goons launch a projectile into Francis's home that fills the room with Joker gas. The gas is part of a binary compound, the first half of which Francis recieved from Harley Quinn when the Joker threatened him before. Neither Batman or the police are affected by the gas, but Francis bursts into a fit of insane laughter as his face distorts into a ghoulish grin. In the comic, Francis was killed, but in the cartoon episode he is administered an anti-toxin by Batman. * '''Thomas Jackson '- Another bureaucrat that the Joker threatens in The Laughing Fish. ''In order to protect him, Batman acts as a decoy for Jackson by impersonating him; Jackson is dressed up as Batman. Later, Jackson's pet cat walks through the catflap with a Joker fish in its mouth. in its maddened state, the cat goes straight for its master and bites him. At first it appears that Batman has been poisoned by the Joker's toxin which makes for an amusing yet disturbing scene, but then the real Batman - who is disguised as Jackson - gets up and injects Jackson with anti-toxin. In the comic book version of the story, Jackson dies after being bitten by the cat. * In the third season episode ''Harlequinade, ''the Joker interrupts a criminal auction where the showcased item is a nuclear bomb. Joker offers a bid of nothing, to which the gangsters reply by pulling guns on him. The Joker responds to this by brandishing his own little bomb, scaring most of the mobsters into fleeing except for the auctioneer. The bomb doesn't detonate, but it does release Joker gas which poisons the man. * In the episode ''Christmas Knights, ''the Joker threatens to kill the crowds in town square celebrating the New Year. His only two victims are a pair of security guards who have been tied up together. The guards appear to have been poisoned with Joker toxin as they are grinning and have grey skin, strongly implying that they are dead rather than merely incapacitated. * In the episode ''Beware the Creeper, ''TV documentary host Jack Ryder and his camera crew are doing a piece focusing on the Joker's origins at the Ace Chemical Plant. The Joker interrupts the live program and attacks the TV crew with laughing-gas bombs. Jack survives but the fate of his crew is in question. ''Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm * 'Salvatore Valestra '- An aged, sickly Gotham crime boss who had organised the murder of Carl Beaumont, the father of Andrea Beaumont aka the Phantasm. When the Phantasm begins executing Valestra's old lieutenants who were involved with the murder, Valestra goes to the Joker - who was also a member of Valestra's gang at the time, long before his transformation - for help. While the Joker agrees to help, he kills Valestra himself and uses his body as bait to lure the Phantasm into a trap. Valestra is killed off-screen, but the Phantasm discovers his grinning corpse in his house; the Joker apparently contaminated the cancer-sufferer's oxygen tank with Smilex. * 'Arthur Reed '- A corrupt councilman who previously had dealings with the Valestra mob. After discovering that Arthur is dating Andrea Beaumont and that she is the Phantasm, the Joker attacks Arthur in his office and poisons him. Arthur is hospitalized and is later interrogated by Batman. After this meeting, Arthur is seen being rushed into critical care as he laughs hysterically. It is left ambiguous as to whether or not the Joker toxin ultimately killed him. Superman: The Animated Series The Joker appears during the three-part story World's Finest, ''which sees Superman and Batman teaming up to stop the Joker and Lex Luthor. * At the beginning of Part 1, Joker and Harley walk into an antique store with a Jack-in-the-box. They present it to the shop owner and when the Jack pops out, it sprays Joker gas in the shopkeeper's face, sending him into a laughing fit. The shopkeeper is last seen lying on the floor with a grin on his face, implying that he is dead. * 'Boss Carlini - A mobster from Metropolis. The Joker breaks into his place and announces he's taking over his gang. He then sprays Carlini in the face with Joker Venom from his lapel flower, then throws the laughing crook outside into the trash can. Carlini is later seen in hospital, still laughing uncontrollably. Whether or not he survives is unknown as he is never seen or heard from again. Justice League In the two-part story Wild Cards, the Joker employs a group of meta-humans called the Royal Flush Gang and hijacks the TV networks to broadcast their battle with the Justice League in Las Vegas. * In a flashback scene, the Joker breaks into Cadmus Labs where he liberates the meta-human subjects that will become his Royal Flush Gang. During the break-in, he sprays a Cadmus officer with Joker Venom. The victim grins and falls to the floor, though his death is unconfirmed. Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker * 'Bonk '- A member of the Jokerz street gang. He disagrees with the way the Joker has muscled in on the gang and decides he wants out. In response, the Joker shoots him with a spear-gun and his dead body is later dragged away. In the edited version of the film, Bonk is shot with a Joker gas pellet and is seen laughing uncontrollably. No lifeless body is seen but it is clear that Bonk is dead since he never appears again. Category:Animated Characters Category:Batman Characters Category:DC Characters Category:Batman Beyond Category:DC Animated Universe Category:Killers Category:Psychopaths Category:Humans Category:Death by Shooting Category:Death by Electrocution Category:Death by Impalement Category:Mass Murderers Category:Villains Category:Cartoon Characters Category:Alternate Version Category:Superhero Movie Deaths